• Volume I: ReligionA. History of ReligionsAssyrian Ideology and Israelite MonotheismThe Next Phase in Jewish Religion: The Land of Israel as Sacred SpaceB. Sources on ReligionUgaritic Descriptive RitualsThe Descriptive Tabernacle Texts of the PentateuchToward an Institutional Overview of Public Ritual at UgaritReview of The Israelian Heritage of JudaismLeviticus: Its Literary History and Location in Biblical LiteratureReview Article: The Deir 'Alla Plaster InscriptionsThe Balaam Inscription from Deir 'Alla: Historical AspectsThe Plaster Inscriptions from Deir 'Alla: General InterpretationThe Temple Scroll: Aspects of its Historical Provenance and Literary CharacterA Further Look at the Mo'adim of the Temple ScrollC. Phenomenology of ReligionOn the Presence of God in Biblical ReligionLpny Yhwh-Phenomenology of the Open-Air-Altar in Biblical IsraelRitual as Symbol: Modes of Sacrifice in Israelite ReligionAn Essay on Prophetic Attitudes toward Temple and Cult in Biblical IsraelThe Language of Holiness: Perceptions of the Sacred in the Hebrew BibleSilence, Sound, and the Phenomenology of Mourning in Biblical IsraelOfferings Rejected by God: Numbers 16:15 in Comparative PerspectiveD. Religious ThemesComparative Perspectives on Jewish and Christian HistoryThe Place of Jonah in the History of Biblical IdeasRene Girard on Job: The Question of the ScapegoatThe Four Private Persons Who Lost Their Share in the World to Come: The Judgment of m. Sanh:2Volume II: Law, Society, and LanguageA. LawCapital PunishmentIn Praise of the Israelite Mispaha: Legal Themes in the Book of RuthOn the Origins of the Aramaic Legal Formulary at ElephantineOn the Role of Aramaic in Transmitting Syro-Mesopotamian Legal Institutionsmulugu/melug: The Origins of a Talmudic Legal InstitutionOn the Semantics of Land Tenure in Biblical Literature: The Term 'ahuzzahB. SocietyThe Clan-Based Economy of Biblical IsraelSome Indices of Israelite Ethnicity`Seed' versus `Womb': Expressions of Male Dominance in Biblical IsraelThe Biblical "Town" as Reality and Typology: Evaluating Biblical References to Towns and Their FunctionsThe View from Jerusalem: Biblical Responses to the Babylonian PresenceC. LanguageAssyriology and Hebrew Philology: A Methodological Re-examinationThe CAD and Biblical Hebrew Lexicography: The Role of Akkadian CognatesThe Semantics of Loss: Two Exercises in Biblical Hebrew LexicographyThe Language of the Magical BowlsAramaic Texts from PersepolisFrom the Aramaic Enoch Fragments: The Semantics of CosmographyLexicographical and Grammatical Notes on the Palmyrene Aramaic TextsScholarly Dictionaries of Two Dialects of Jewish Aramaic.
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In a career spanning almost five decades, Baruch Levine's numerous publications reflect his wide-ranging interests and areas of expertise in the study of the Hebrew Bible, the ancient Near East, and early Judaism. In Pursuit of Meaning brings together 51 of the most important articles that Professor Levine produced during his years at Brandeis University (1962-69) and New York University (1969-2000, emeritus 2000-). The first volume, containing 27 articles, focuses on the study of religion in the biblical and ancient Near Eastern worlds from a number of perspectives, ranging from close philological analysis of written sources to anthropological studies of ancient cultic practices. In the 24 articles of the second volume, Levine engages broader aspects of ancient Near Eastern society, from legal institutions of various types to larger societal forms of organization. This volume also contains some of his more incisive lexicographical and philological contributions to the study of the Hebrew and Aramaic languages.The flavor of Prof. Levine's work is captured in this paragraph from his introduction to these two volumes:"Looking back, and reviewing my writings, I realize what it is that I have been seeking all along. I have been in pursuit of meaning, employing scholarly methods, primarily philology and semantics, to the exegesis of ancient Near Eastern texts, preserved in several languages, principally the Hebrew Bible. I regard language as the key to meaning. This conclusion would appear to be self-evident, and yet, philology is often sidelined in favor of engaging larger frameworks. Most of all, I challenge the notion that we already know the meaning of the words and clauses central to the texts under investigation, and may proceed directly to other considerations without first re-examining the smaller units. Again and again, that policy has resulted in flawed interpretation, and in missed opportunities for learning. This is not to say that scholars should stop at the smaller units, and, indeed, the tendency to do so has been largely responsible for the reaction against Semitic philology so noticeable since the latter part of the 20th century. It is our challenge to move outward from focal points to the circumference, from text to context, from content to structure.".
(source: Nielsen Book Data)